


the more things change

by TheTruthAboutLove



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/F, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Happy, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-03-30 01:40:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19032136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTruthAboutLove/pseuds/TheTruthAboutLove
Summary: "It appears we might have a little stowaway on the ship."Or, Ava and Sara meet their daughter from the future as she repeatedly gets displaced in time. Starts with Laurel being two years old in the first chapter and getting older as the fic progresses.





	1. The little stowaway

**Author's Note:**

> The main pairing is Avalance, but it also focuses on Laurel's relationship with Nora. It's basically just them getting to know their daughter.

It was well past office hours when she finally managed to put her pen down and call it a day. The report she had been writing was finally finished and it would be archived the following morning along with the reports from the last three missions the Legends completed. The magical creatures were being dealt with at a satisfactory rate and with so few complications it was starting to feel quite suspicious.

Of course, Ava would never say to their face they were doing a decent job. First of all she had no time for sentimentalisms, and secondly she did not want to jinx their streak of luck. Not that she believed in luck or the concept of jinxing something, but where the Legends were concerned it was better safe than sorry.

Unbeknown to her, something out of the ordinary was already happening on the newest mission, so it was really not her fault for thinking that maybe things would have remained quiet until all the creatures were settled. After all, without Neron always getting in the way, it was fair to assume things would have moved quicker.

Alas, her phone still rang flashing the Waverider as the caller – not Sara, not one of the Legends, but Gideon, personally calling her – and that could only mean trouble.

Her fingers hovered over the screen for just a moment before she realized that ignoring a present problem would only lead to a bigger problem sooner rather than later.

“Hello?”

“Director Sharpe, the Legends are finding themselves in a rather dangerous predicament.”

“How can I help?”

“You could perhaps go to them and help with the mission? India, 1947. Bring something apt to catch a Buru.”

“A... Buru?”

“Massive reptile, not unlike a crocodile.”

“Of course, sounds about right. Well, Gideon, I might have something useful actually. I'll be there in a minute.”

A short trip to the storage and a temporal jump later, Ava was shrinking a Buru with Ray's Shrinking Ray and trapping him inside a costumed jar.

She held up the small container for Charlie to grasp while walking past her, the shapeshifter smiled and patted her arm. Zari thanked her quietly, Mick grunted in a friendly – at least she thought it was friendly – way and Constantine was the only one who looked sore she was the one who managed to trap the creature.

Sara sighed and stopped in front of her, leaving them to be the last ones on that side of the portal.

“Thank you. With Ray and Nora... recovering, and Nate still working on his dad's project we're a little short handed.”

“No problem, just,” she raised a hand, thumb and index roughly the same distance apart as the height of the miniaturized Buru, “a small thing,” she reigned in the smile that almost slipped alongside the joke.

“Director Sharpe, was that an hill attempt at humour?”

Ava shrugged, walking back into the Waverider and waiting for Sara to do the same before closing the portal behind them.

“Captain, we might have a small problem on our hands,” Gideon's voice reached the bridge.

All of them immediately went back into alert mode.

“With the Buru?”

“Nothing like that, Captain. It appears we might have a little stowaway on the ship.”

“What, like a time pirate?” Mick grunted, raising his gun.

“That a real thing?” Charlie asked in a whisper.

“I believe this particular stowaway is sensibly too young to be a time pirate,” Gideon informed them, prompting Mick to lower his gun again.

“There's a age restriction on criminal activity?” Zari asked. “Like, no time pirates under twenty-one because a pirate crew that drinks together, stays together?”

“Why is the drinking age in the time stream twenty-one when literally anywhere but in the USA the limit is eighteen?” Charlie asked, a little indignant.

“Is this really the most appropriate time to have this discussion?” Zari raised an eyebrow.

“Stop flirting,” Sara told them. “Gideon, who's our stowaway?”

“Oh, bollocks,” was Gideon's only answer.

Sara waited for her to add something else, but before she could formulate an answer, the little stowaway marched right into the bridge.

The small child stomping around the ship could not have been more than two years old, two and a half tops. A blonde haired, blue eyed, little girl with chubby cheeks and unstable legs. She was holding a stuffed giraffe by its right ear and the animal was almost as tall as her, resulting in it being dragged across the Waverider's floor alongside the wobbly but determined steps of the little kid.

They all held their breaths and waited for the kid to reveal itself as something else, maybe a magical creature or a disguised time pirate, maybe even a shapeshifter or a malevolent entity, anything but an harmless child wandering the halls of their time ship.

The little girl kept walking until she was standing directly in front of Ava.

The room was deadly silent. They all waited to hear what the creature's request was going to be, if the small being would demand to speak to the one in charge or ask for asylum. They were all staring at her with wide eyes, waiting.

The small child raised her hands in the air as far as they would go.

“Up.”

There was no doubt left, she was staring at and speaking directly to Ava.

“Mom, up.”

Like in a trance, Ava bent down and picked up the small child, holding her safely in her arms, still looking at her with wide eyes. The toddler seemed unimpressed with her.

“No mo' wo'k. Home now, mommy.”

“Is, uhm-” Sara cleared her voice. “You wanna tell me something Aves?”

“Gideon?” Ava's voice cracked on the last vowel of the AI's name.

“Director Sharpe, I believe she managed to get ahold of a time courier that displaced her from her own time back to 2019. I was able to pinpoint the location her jump originated from, so you can take her back home whenever you're ready.”

“Home, mommy,” the child demanded once more.

Ava had faced, in her time as a Time Bureau operative first and Director lately, a vast number of scary and endangering situations, including, but not limited to, actual monsters and dangerous magical creatures, one of which she had, just a few minutes prior, shrunk down and entrapped. But she had never felt this scared before in her life.

“Why's- uhm, why's she calling me mo-” she cleared her voice. “Why's she calling me _that_?”

“Based on a quick scan of her DNA, I believe she is your daughter, director. She was displaced here from 2025 directly from your apartment. If I'm correct, you aren't there currently in her timeline, perhaps she used your time courier to come looking for you on the Waverider. I believe this is why she is demanding you accompany her back home.”

“Home,” the child echoed Gideon's last word. “Mommy, home now.”

Ava swallowed trickily, nodding. “Okay, home.”

She seemed content with the answer, because the second Ava said so she snuggled closer and rested her head on Ava's shoulder, one of her little hands clutching Ava's shirt.

For a moment, time stood still. The kid fitted perfectly, her weight felt right in Ava's arms, her presence filled something inside her she had no idea had been empty. There was no doubt left in her mind that this was her child.

But then she saw Sara, standing there, her eyes filled with fear and her feet glued to the ground.

No, this wasn't her kid. Not yet, at least. But someday. Oh God, someday. This little menace would fill up her life in a way that made her feel electric if she just thought about it.

But for the time being, she knew she had to get the little angel away from Sara before she had a heart attack or got scared away for good. She pressed a few buttons on her time courier, until a portal opened. She stepped into the future quickly, before she could think better of it.

Her apartment looked pretty much the same, but there were toys scattered around and colouring books on almost every flat surface and sippy cups and small clothes.

“Hey, you're home,” the familiar voice greeted her as the woman came down the stairs. “How did Laurel get downstairs? I was just going up to tuck her in and the stairs gate was safely closed.”

“Sara,” she sighed in relief, releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding.

“Yes, weirdo,” Sara rolled her eyes at Ava's almost surprised tone upon seeing her.

“Wait, Laurel? We- we named her Laurel?” Ava smiled softly, eyes suddenly shining with a few unshed tears.

“Oh. You're not from here. This is the night we met her, isn't it? The night we had a little stowaway on the Waverider.”

Ava could only nod. “How-”

“She must've got ahold of your old time courier, it got broken a few weeks ago, it only sends you back to 2019 now. That must be why she was there, she wanted to look for you on the ship but the courier brought her back in time.”

“Maybe we should lock it up. She wasn't in danger this time, but I don't think we should risk it.”

“Trust me, it _is_ locked up. But your daughter has her ways.”

“Oh, so when she misbehaves she's _my_ daughter? That is rich, Lance,” Ava smiled at her mischievously.

“Haven't you heard? It's Sharpe-Lance, now. I shouldn't tell you anything more, probably. Spoilers and time folding in on itself and all that.”

“Right, you're right,” Ava nodded decisively and went to hand the kid over to Sara.

“Mama, mommy's home. Night book?”

Ava felt her heart melt at the child's request, despite not really understanding it. She turned to Sara, looking for an explanation.

“You've been working late for a few days and she likes when both of us tuck her in and read her a story and use the voices. You're surprisingly good at improv,” Sara explained.

Ava had a hard time believing it, but looking back at Laurel she felt she already lost the battle with herself. She was going to do whatever the kid asked and she was painfully aware of how quickly she had her wrapped around her little finger.

“Okay. Let's tuck her in, then.”

Sara raised an eyebrow, but didn't argue. She gestured for Ava to follow her and walked up the stairs, the other woman in tow, opening the old studio that was now a bedroom. Ava asked Sara for a pair of clean socks, replacing the ones Laurel had walked all over the Waverider with and then finally placing her under the covers, while the whole time the child just kept blabbering gibberish at them.

The kid was already half asleep, tired out by the search mission she had been on, and reassured by the presence of both her parents she fell asleep pretty quickly after Ava started reading to her “Gertrude the Giraffe”.

Once they were sure she was sleeping, Ava watched her for a moment, trying to stock away in her memory all the details she could, then after she pressed a kiss to her forehead she got up and let Sara led the way back down the stairs.

“What is the deal with the giraffes, anyway?”

Sara chuckled. “Spoilers. Very, very cute spoilers that I want us to live through together.”

“Fair enough. Thank you for letting me stay. And please tell your present Ava for me that if she doesn't tuck in her daughter tomorrow night I will kick her ass.”

“Consider the message delivered.”

She smiled at Sara again and then went to open a portal, but she noticed a spark in Sara's eyes that lit up her curiosity.

“What?”

Sara shrugged. “I just, I can't believe there was a time you doubted you'd be an amazing mom. You're a natural, you're not even a mom yet and you're already great at it.”

“Please, I just read her the first ten pages of a kid's book.”

“No, not that. The socks thing.”

“The socks thing?”

“Yeah, the socks thing. You changed her socks because she walked out of bed in them. I don't think anyone has ever changed their socks on the Waverider after getting up for a midnight snack in the entire time that ship has been functional. But you changed hers. And that is such a mom thing to do, honestly.”

“That's not a mom thing, Sara, that's just common sense. You concern me sometimes.”

Sara chuckled again. “Yeah, yeah. Now go before my wife finds me with another woman in our home.”

“Your _wife_?”

“Aves, come on, spoilers!”

“You were the one- fine, fine, I'm going,” she raised her hands in mock surrender, then opened up a portal. “Goodnight, Sara.”

“Goodnight.”

To absolutely no surprise, the Legends were all still on deck, waiting for her to return from her adventure in the future. Luckily, Ava knew them well, perhaps even too well, so she opened a portal directly inside Sara's room.

She sat down on the bed, next to a very silent captain.

“So, you have a kid.”

“So I do.”

“She looks adorable.”

“Indeed. She has a thing for giraffes, apparently.”

“Did you, uhm, did you happen to see who you're going to have that adorable kid with?”

“I did, yeah. Not that I really had any doubts about it, only one person I'd go on that kind of crazy adventure with.”

“So was it me?”

Ava rolled her eyes. “Yes, dork,” she bumped her shoulder into Sara's.

“Oh,” Sara let out a breath and then turned to Ava, giving her the most breathtaking smile Ava had ever seen her sport. “Good. I mean, I suspected, of course, because those freckles she has she did not get from you, miss porcelain skin,” Sara tried to lighten the mood, teasing her.

Ava smiled. “That could be a coincidence, the chin dimple is telling another story. And Gideon told us she has my DNA, apparently.”

Sara chuckled, but then got a slightly more serious again. “It doesn't really matter, does it? She's _ours_ either way. Our little stowaway.”

Ava smiled, moving a strand of Sara's hair behind her ear and then cupping her face.

“Yes, she will be. I'm glad we got to have a glimpse.”

Sara leaned over, kissing her softly. She rested her forehead on Ava's for a moment, then leaned back suddenly.

“If I may interrupt, Captain. It appears that using future technology you were able to combine both your DNA's, so your daughter is both of yours biological daughter.”

They suddenly fell silent, realizing what just happened. They met their daughter, their future daughter, from 2025. A daughter they were supposed to have somewhere between two and three years from that moment. They would have a future together, and not just any future, but a happy future, a married-with-kids future, the kind of future they often didn't dare to hope for, but both craved. They were going to make it. And as impossible as it sometimes sounded, they had the certainty they could make it if they tried, if they wanted to.

At the same time, thinking about it could be maddening. They had to stay in the present, live in the present. They couldn't let thoughts of the future make them rush into things.

They started to move around, both silently getting ready for bed, wordlessly agreeing Ava was going to stay the night on the ship since they were both already there.

She was in the middle of getting changed when a thought returned in her mind.

“Hey Sara, if you walk on the floor wearing your socks you change them with clean ones before going to bed, right?”

Sara scoffed, then laughed. “Who does that, neat freak?”

And just like nothing happened, they were back to teasing each other, laughing about silly things and talking about anything and everything, carefully avoiding the thing that kept peeking at the back of their minds for quite a long time.

 


	2. The chocolate box

The Waverider's Captain's office was silent, similarly to the bridge and the rest of the ship. Taking a much needed break after their latest mission had seemed the most sensible thing to do at the time, but Sara was starting to regret it now that she actually had to take a break and sit in silence with only her thoughts to keep her company.

That wouldn't normally be a problem, Sara didn't mind to have time for herself, usually. She would train, meditate, relax, have a drink or two or ten.

But ever since the unexpected visit they received ten days before, focusing on anything else had been hard, especially at first. So, she had done what any responsible adult would have: she had thrown herself into work and tried not to think about the constant thought always surfacing in the back of her mind. The kid.

Her and Ava had diligently avoided talking about their future shared daughter, and Sara would have very much liked to avoid thinking about her constantly as well.

But alas, there was no mission available and she had spent so many hours training the day before that her muscles were still sore, and Charlie had yet to replace the whiskey she emptied. That left her with fewer options, and meditating or reading or even just watching tv were not really viable distractions, her mind would just end up wandering in the same unwelcome direction again.

There was still something she could do.

“Gideon, can you predict how mad Ava is going to be if I distract her from work right now?”

“Director Sharpe is currently filling up paperwork at her desk, Captain. Perhaps a call would be welcomed?”

“Call her for me then, will you?”

“Calling Director Sharpe,” Gideon confirmed.

And a few moments later, there she was. Her blue eyes were filling up the screen of the tablet she was holding in her hands and Sara was feeling better already.

“Hey, Aves.”

“Hi. Everything okay?”

“I don't _always_ call bearing bad news,” Sara rolled her eyes.

Ava just kept looking at her, raising an eyebrow slowly.

“Well, I don't this time. I just wanted to hear your voice, see if you had plans for lunch. We could go out, like to a proper restaurant, have food that hasn't been manufactured by a super AI from the future for a change.”

“Sure. I should wrap this up in an hour, if that works.”

“Yeah, I'd say-”

“Captain, I'm sorry to interrupt. There has been a breach in security, it appears the little stowaway might be back on the ship.”

Sara's heart leapt. “Right now? But Ava's not here, she-”

Just before she could explain how Ava was working, a fact Gideon was already aware of, a child walked into the bridge of the ship, marching to the Captain's office. The kid was significantly older, Sara would guess five or six, and the stuffed animal she had been clutching tightly the time before was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she was carrying a small red box in her hands and looked determined and maybe even a little frustrated.

Sara looked at the tablet in her hands, eyes a little panicked, but there was really nothing Ava could do except look back at her through the screen.

The kid walked straight to her desk and let the box in her hand down on the table maybe a little more forcefully than needed. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited.

Sara raised an eyebrow, but felt herself relax a little. Miss Bossy seemed to be in a miniature-Ava mood. And that, Sara could handle.

“You're not allowed to use you mom's watch, you know that,” Sara said in the most stern voice she had ever heard herself use.

“Go apologize to mom, give her this,” she pushed the box towards Sara a little.

Sara looked down at the red box, then up again.

“What am I apologizing for?”

“Mom said the reason you weren't home last night and this morning is because you guys had a disregarment.”

“Disagreement?” Sara corrected tentatively.

“Yeah, that. You forgot Valentine's Day, didn't you? So this is a box of chocolate, you can give it to mom and say you're sorry.”

Sara's heart clenched. Her and Ava were fighting, apparently had been for at least a whole day, and it was bad enough that she hadn't made it home the night before.

No, not her and Ava. Future her and Ava. And whatever her future asshole self had done, Sara knew she would fix it without a little help from the past. So she tried to make light of the situation and distract the kid until she could find an excuse to bring her back home.

“You think chocolate will _sweeten_ her?”

“This is no time for jokes, mama. Mom's really sad. It's not the chocolate, it's the apology. You always say how it's important to own up to your mistakes, right? Mom is sad you're not home. I'm sad. Aren't you?”

Sara draw a breath in, not really knowing what to say to that.

“Tell her grown up things are complicated, if you don't want to lie,” Ava's voice came through her earpiece. “I had Gideon transfer me to your comms, I can still hear both of you through the tablet. Tell Laurel-”

Sara gasped. “Laurel?”

“Yeah?” The kid walked around the table, pushing Sara's chair around and climbing until she was sitting on Sara's leg, her big blue eyes staring into hers.

Sara was about to give her a half-assed lie, but she couldn't find it in her to do so. Instead, she leaned in and kissed the top of Laurel's head.

“Of course I'm sad. I'm always sad when I'm away from you and mom.”

“Then give her this, apologize. Please, mama.”

Sara wanted to explain to her why she couldn't, why she shouldn't. But, as it turned out, saying no to your own child is a lot harder than it had any right to be. She looked down at the tablet, Ava still looking back at her, and her eyes fell on the box of chocolate.

She felt herself smile.

“Laurel, this has already been opened.”

Out of curiosity, she took the lid off and noticed at least half of the box was empty already.

The kid threw her arms in the air and then let them fall back in her lap.

“Of course it is, I took it from the candy cabinet at home, I'm six! I couldn't just go out and buy one without mom knowing!”

Sara felt herself start to chuckle, but was quick to suppress it when Laurel looked back at her with hopeful eyes.

“Tell you what, then. We can ask Gideon to make mom a new set, we can have all her favourites in it, and yours too.”

“Okay,” Laurel approved, getting up and immediately grabbing Sara's hands when she got up as well.

“Give me one second, okay, kid?” Sara said, then picked up the tablet. “I'll let you get back to work, text when you're done with the paperwork.”

“Okay. Call if you need me,” Ava requested.

“Will do.”

Sara closed the call, then started walking to the fabricator with Laurel beside her, still clutching her hand.

“Mama, your workplace is weird.”

“The weirdest.”

“I would be scared sleeping here.”

“Well, you don't have to, if you don't want to.”

“I know. Mom says the rest of your team sleeps here, but you and her got a home because she had another job before and she didn't want to sleep here forever. Maybe she was scared, too.”

“Maybe she wanted a place that was bigger, and just for our family, for the three of us. A home.”

“You always say home is where we are,” Laurel says, and that's pretty much the end of the conversation, as the pattern on the walls seem to catch her attention and she starts trailing it with her fingers.

A dumb smile slowly started to form on Sara's lips because, albeit unknowingly, her daughter had just offered up such a wonderful piece of information, Sara wished she could actually laugh or scream out loud. It was so satisfactory to know that what her daughter said would eventually happen, because it confirmed everything she'd known in her heart for a while now: Ava is going to become a Legend someday.

“So, what kind should we put in?”

“Dark chocolate.”

“That's right, those she likes. Heard that, Gideon?”

“And pistachio ones. And a few with a chestnut in the centre and milk chocolate around it. And some with coconut sprinkles!” Laurel got more and more excited as she went on listing and Sara strongly suspected the last ones were more her daughter's favourites than Ava's. In fact, she didn't think she'd ever seen Ava eat anything with coconut before.

“You got all that, Gideon?”

“I did, Captain. The box will be ready shortly,” the AI announced with what sounded like mirth in her voice.

Laurel's excitement was still growing, until she was practically bouncing on her feet.

“Okay, kid, let's get you home,” Sara said after retrieving the box from the fabricator.

She fiddled a little with a spare time courier she kept around, following Gideon's instructions about the time and place, then opened a portal into her future.

The house was pretty much the same she remembered. Except maybe a little messier and with a lot more toys and school stuff scattered around. It was dark outside but it wasn't night yet, it looked like a late afternoon.

Ava was pacing the kitchen, talking to someone on the phone, when Sara walked in with Laurel's hand in hers.

“I have to call you back, Nora. Let me know if something changes,” she ended the call and kept staring at them, looking at Sara with slightly narrowed eyes.

While the six years old might not have noticed that her mama was a decade younger than she was supposed to be, apparently Ava had done so quite quickly.

“Come on,” Laurel whispered. “Apologize.”

Sara glanced down, then cleared her throat. “I'm so, so sorry I forgot Valentine's Day and I hope you can find forgiveness in your heart.”

“Say it'll never happen again,” Laurel whispered.

“It will never, ever happen again,” Sara dutifully added.

“The box, mama.”

“Right,” Sara stepped forward, handing the box to Ava. “This is for you. Happy belated Valentine's Day, Aves. It has all your favourites, dark chocolate, pistachio, even sprinkled coconut.”

Ava raised an eyebrow, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Well, if there's sprinkled coconuts, how can I say no?” Ava asked, taking the box from Sara's hands and putting it on the nearby table. “Laurel, can you go up to your room and wait for me there, we need to have a conversation about you using my special watch again.”

“I never used it before, it was an emergency.”

“You did, when you were two.”

“Well, I don't remember that. So it shouldn't count.”

“Your room, sweetheart. I'll be right up,” Ava kissed her head, then sent her off.

Sara waited until she heard her room door close, then turned back to Ava with a sheepish expression.

“I'm sorry, I couldn't say no to her when she demanded I apologize to you with chocolates.”

Ava smiles softly. “It's okay. Thank you for bringing her back home.”

“No problem at all. She's amazing,” she cleared her voice, stared at her shoes for a moment. “We, uh- we named her Laurel?”

Ava nodded, smiling, but her eyes were shining.

“Aves, I didn't forget Valentine's Day, did I?” Sara asked quietly.

“No,” she let out a breath, almost laughing at the thought. “We would never fight like this over one of us forgetting a recurrence, you know that.”

“What did I do, then?”

“You know I can't-” she shook her head and brought a hand up to cover her eyes, Sara could see her resolve crumble quickly. “It was just a stupid discussion about school districts, but she heard us argue. When you didn't come back home I thought telling her we were fighting was for the best, I didn't want to worry her. You're-” she stopped, shaking her head again.

“I'm injured.”

“I have to be with her. I wish I was on the Waverider, but one of us has to be with her. Gideon will have you up and running by dinner, Nora said they're about to wake you up. But I won't be there and it's-”

“Go.”

Ava's hand dropped from her eyes and she looked up, frowning. “What?”

“Go, Aves. I'll stay with her. Just make sure me and other Sara don't cross paths. Like maybe come upstairs alone so I can leave before we see each other and time goes boom again. Better yet, I'll take her to lunch in 2019 and bring her back in two hours.”

“Really? You don't have to.”

“I want to. I'll want you to be there when I wake up, I'm sure I will. And it won't kill me to spend a couple of hours with my daughter. You'll help, past you I mean. We'll have lunch so she can see we made up, even if she'll be with 2019 us.”

“Thank you, Sara.”

“I'd do anything for you.”

Ava hugged her then and there, quickly dried off her cheeks and then asked Sara to make sure her 2019 self explained why using her time courier was a bad idea. Sara smiled, because of course even in a situation like this that would be Ava's first concern.

  
  


That was how Sara found herself walking the halls of the Waverider hand in hand with her future daughter. She called Ava back and said they'd have lunch in a proper restaurant another time, but for the meal ahead of them it was probably better they stayed on the ship.

Ava gave a heartfelt lecture about using “mom's special watch” and Sara felt the panic that had stormed her chest ever since Laurel appeared on the ship lessen more and more as they sat there eating lunch.

It was easy, but more than that, it gave her a happy feeling she was quickly becoming addicted to, a feeling she was sure she would never want to live without.

They spent the rest of their time talking cartoons and a particular game their daughter had apparently been asking to get for ages. They faked their way through the conversation pretty easily, and eventually Sara dropped her back unharmed to a less worried looking Ava.

And when she went back to 2019 and her own Ava hugged her tightly in her arms, whispering that everything was going to be okay, Sara believed her.

“Aves?”

“Mh.”

“Do you like sprinkled coconut on top of chocolates?”

“Uhm, I guess? I prefer dark chocolate. And pistachio ones. Oh, and the ones with the chestnut in the middle!”

“I think Laurel might like the coconut ones best,” she smirked.

“Well,” Ava smiles, taking her hands into hers. “I guess we'll just have to wait and see.”

 


	3. The presentation

There were some days where life was just too much to handle. There was no other way to describe it except that everything was happening too much. Gary was too loud and Mona was too joyful, Nate was too careless and Nora was too tortured. Everyone seemed to have a problem they wanted Ava to fix, from James from HR who wanted her to approve the new forms to Laura from the tech department who wanted her to take a look at some new blueprints.

And Ava always tried to be there for everyone and everything, she checked and corrected the forms, looked at the blueprints approving some and discarding others, she convinced Gary to be quieter and Mona to be more diligent, she talked Nate into responsibility and Nora into letting go and being a little more spontaneous sometimes.

But some days it became too much.

That day, well, it had been the week's worst. The month's worst, even. It had been stressful and chaotic and it ended in a failed mission and a call from someone “high enough in the ranks” – Nate's words – informing them the Time Bureau's days were numbered.

It didn't matter how hard and how long Ava had been working ever since Neron was dealt with so that she could restore the organization's original, noble purpose. It did not appear to make a difference how much she wanted it to work, how much good they had done, how grand their ride had been. Her own federal branch was just about to be shut down for good.

And she couldn't resign herself to let it burn down like this. Or, well, at all.

But she didn't know how to save it. She didn't have a plan or even something to grasp as a lifeline, there was nothing else to do but be diligent and perfect at what they did.

Except, everyone kept interfering and asking and knocking on her door and the madness was driving her insane.

That was why, knowing half the Legends were on a mission and the other half was a the Time Bureau, she decided to use the Waverider as her personal office for the day. Just to have a break. Just to try and think of something.

She spent two hours, two whole uninterrupted ours, trying to come up with something, anything, to save the Bureau. A plan. Even a name of someone she could get a meeting with, someone who could help.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing. The blank page kept staring at her until she angrily pushed it off the desk and hid her face in her hands. She felt tears prickle her eyes as desperation filled her. What was she going to do?

“Director Sharpe, someone has boarded the Waverider.”

She sighed, pushing the tears back, sighing loudly before straightening her back and trying to appear more composed than she felt.

“Who is it, Gideon?” Ava asked gently, trying to stay on the AI's good side that she worked so hard to earn.

“It appears to be a ten-year-old Laurel, Director.”

Ava stopped breathing entirely for a whole thirty seconds. She watched on, paralysed, as Laurel walked into the Captain's office, holding up a notebook on the desk so it would face Ava.

“Laurel. What- what are you-”

“I know I'm not supposed to use your special watch, but I need to talk to you without mama. I need you on my side before we tell her.”

Ava's eyes grew bigger and she kept staring at the kid. Slowly, one of her eyebrow raised up on its own volition.

“Tell her what, exactly?”

Laurel smiled to herself, happy she at least won the right to continue with her speech. She turned the first page of the spiral notebook she was holding sideways, with the longer side leaning on the table and the front of it facing Ava.

The first page was a drawing of two blonde women, each one holding one hand of the little girl standing between them.

“Look at us. We seem pretty happy, right?”

Ava feared, truly feared that question. She slowly, carefully, gave her daughter a nod.

“Wrong! Or, well, I guess we do. We have small smiles, see?” She pointed them out on the picture. “But now look at this,” she said, turning to page to an almost identical picture where the people represented had much, much bigger smiles, with teeth showing and everything. “We look so much happier now.”

Ava was flabbergasted. Her future daughter really had such a flare for the dramatic. There was no doubt in her mind that she was a Lance, even if Gideon hadn't had a DNA test made, this would be equally valid prof of the kid's lineage.

“And you know why?” Laurel asked, not waiting for Ava's answer before pointing out something curled up at the little girl's feet. “A cat!”

She had to bit her lips so hard to not burst in an exhilarating laugh.

The third page was a writing that read: 10 reasons why we should get a cat.

“Oh, honey,” Ava whispered with a sweetness in her voice that it was almost surprising to her own ears. “Your mama doesn't really like cats.”

“I know, I know. But if you're convinced by this maybe she will be too,” Laurel insisted. “Okay, reason number one: they are the softest cutest creatures in all of the universe!”

She said it with so much enthusiasm that Ava felt her heart melt a little at the sight. She saw, leaning on the control console, the Waverider's very own Captain, watching from a few feet away as their daughter began her presentation.

“Reason number two, a pet will love you always, even when you're feeling not great with yourself, if you love them they will love you back.”

A compelling argument, especially with how Ava was feeling currently.

“Number three: Carol said her cat had seven kittens and if they don't find them a house some of them might go to pet jail and I don't like that.”

Ava's eyebrow shot up, but she tried not to laugh at the words “pet jail” being used to describe animal shelters, which were anything but.

“Four, mama didn't like uncle Mick either because he was grumpy and only cared about food, but now she loves him and it would be the same with a cat.”

Oh, Ava _so_ loved her future daughter.

“Reason number five: our home is big enough that she could be a house cat and if she needed to be walked I could help. Reason number six is I could also feed her. Reason number seven is I could change her water. Carol does all these things so I know I could learn.”

Ava nodded. She would help take care of the pet she was asking for, that was a legitimate point to make, really.

“Reason number nine is another picture of us with a cat and you can see how happy we look because we have her, look mommy,” Laurel held the notebook closer, so Ava could take another look at the drawing she made.

“We do look really happy, honey. Our smiles are very big,” _and creepy_ , she thought. And, despite an hypothetical picture not being actual scientific evidence, or even a proper fact or reason, she had to admit the drawing was really cute.

“And reason number ten is that I love her.”

Laurel put down the notebook, the last page was a drawing of the same black and white cat that seemed to be in every single page. She walked around the desk and stopped right beside Ava, waiting for her answer.

“You don't know her yet,” Ava picked her up, helping her sit on her own legs, drawing her a little closer to herself.

“I do, I saw her at Carol's house the other day.”

Ava hummed. So that was why the cat always looked the same, Laurel already knew exactly which one she wanted.

“Well, she's not yours yet.”

“She doesn't have to be for me to love her,” Laurel insisted.

 _Don't I know it_ , Ava wanted to tell her. _You're not mine yet and I love you so impossibly much_.

Laurel laid her head on Ava's shoulder. “Please, mommy. Can we at least ask mama?”

Ava sighed. “I'll think about it, okay honey? You bring me back this notebook when I come home tonight and we can talk about it some more. Sounds fair?”

“Yes! Thank you!” Laurel threw her arms around her neck, hugging her tightly.

“I'm not saying that's a yes, honey. But we can talk about this more later. I have to go back to work now. And you have to get back home.”

Ava got up, letting Laurel down on her feet and taking her hand instead, she opened a portal with Gideon's help to track the exact day and time, then turning momentarily to give Sara a quick nod without Laurel seeing, to let her know she'd be back in a second.

They stepped through the portal and Ava closed it quickly, expecting to find Sara waiting for her on the other side. That was when Laurel grimaced.

“Grandpa will be worried, I kinda snuck out.”

Ava's heart sank. “Grandpa?”

“Yeah, he was the one babysitting. Like always when you work and I'm not at school, silly.”

“Right,” Ava forced a smile. “Silly me.”

This wasn't right. Couldn't be. No, this was a bad, awful day that her wonderful daughter made entirely better, but it was no day for miracles.

“Ava! Gosh, I'm sorry, she snuck out without me noticing and I was just about to call you.”

And there he was. Quentin Lance. A miracle standing and talking.

She gaped at him and he frowned, noticing something odd with her.

“Laurel, can you go wait in your room? Me and grandpa need to talk about some grown up stuff,” Ava asked her as calmly as she could.

Laurel nodded and ran to her room before she could get in trouble for her sneaking out.

“Mister Lance, it's so nice to meet you,” Ava said in a hopeful breath. “Don't get me wrong, it really is fantastic to meet you, but how is this possible? Sir, you- you're dead in 2019.”

“That where you're from?” Quentin nodded. “I see. I'm not sure I can tell you the story, Ava. I don't want to say something that could change the past, _your_ future. You play a pretty big role in saving both me and Laurel-”

Ava gasped. “Laurel's alive?”

“Oh, shoot. You can't tell Sara. She'll try to rush it and- this has to happen when Zari's software says it can happen, alright? Everything will make sense then. Until then, I'm afraid-”

He paused, looking at his hands for a moment.

“I'm sorry to have to ask this, Ava. You're like a daughter to me. You _are_ a daughter to me. But I have to ask to take the memory of this conversation away.”

“Oh,” she frowned. “I suppose, I don't want to risk your wellbeing over me remembering this.”

“You'll remember this someday,” he reassured. “It's just... a temporary precaution.”

Ava nodded her consent. He searched the highest shelves of the kitchen cabinet for a key, then looked to the stairs to make sure Laurel wasn't coming back down and didn't see them opening the safe behind the painting with the Legends medals. He took out a wiper.

“Maybe you should do the settings, I'm still not completely up to date with this future tech,” he smiled at her.

Ava smiled back, handling the settings.

“Sara misses you,” she told him fiddling with it, without looking back up, just to have a moment longer of this conversation.

“I miss her, too. But she'll get me back someday. I know it seems cruel and pointless now, but this is the only way. You'll have to take my word for it.”

Ava thought about it for a second, then nodded. She handled the wiper back to Quentin, pausing for just a second longer before letting it go.

“I've always done my best to protect her, sir. And to love her. The way she deserves to be loved.”

He smiled happily. “I know. I died when Sara was pissed off and angry and alone and I came back to the happiest version of my daughter I've ever seen. That's because of you, Ava. So really, you don't need to say anything to win me over: you already have.”

She couldn't resist the urge to give him a quick hug.

“I'm ready,” she nodded after a moment.

“We'll meet again, I promise,” Quentin reassured her.

Ava smiled. She walked back to the 2019 Waverider with no memories of seeing Quentin, but a lighter heart that she'd had in days. She felt happy, ridiculously so, without really knowing exactly why.

“You look cheerful,” Sara welcomed her back.

“Oh, come on, even you have to admit the drawings were cute.”

She shrugged. “Couldn't see them from where I was standing. Guess I'll have to wait a decade or so, uh?” Sara teased her.

“Yes. Fourteen years, give or take,” she reminded Sara. “But somehow I feel... I feel it will be worth the wait,” she smiled sweetly.

And even if she had yet to come up with an idea to save the Time Bureau, or even delay its doom, she felt less worried than she did before Laurel's cute presentation about the reasons why they should get a cat. She felt, strangely, like things were eventually going to work out just perfectly fine.

 


	4. The purple keychain

Sara and Ava had not had an actual conversation in almost five days. They had texted, of course, and there was the occasional voicemail message or note sticked to a pillow, but one of them was always getting stuck on a mission or in a meeting, so when they got home the other one was already asleep or – in Sara's case – had decided to stay on the Waverider.

On the fifth day of missing each other, Sara had had it. So she planned an early leave and made sure Ava was done with work on schedule, she bought wine and cooked dinner. Well, microwaved dinner, but really, what counted was the fact that they were having lasagna and red wine and that she set candles on their table so that the lights could stay low and her phone was playing soft, slow music in the background so that when Ava walked in everything would be perfect and Sara could say to her precious, gorgeous girlfriend: “I'm happy you're home”.

Her mind went back to a past time when she would have shivered in terror at the prospect of this kind of domesticity. It was terrifying, really. And she would have never, ever, actually planned a whole evening in detail with this much willing sappiness coming off of her in waves. But for Ava? With Ava? Oh, may God forgive her, she had turned into someone who believed in love and second – fourth? – chances at a real life.

Sara remembered when she was a kid and she and Laurel used to play pretend. Laurel would always be a lawyer and Sara would always be a doctor and they would have pretend tea parties and brunches and weddings; Laurel would always play the bride and Sara would always play the priest, because even at six she was too independent to think she'd ever want to spend forever with someone and be happy about it.

Ava was her forever. Her happy ending.

There were some days, she wished for nothing more than a chance to tell Laurel she was right, she'd always been right, that soulmates existed. That she had found hers. Laurel would have _loved_ Ava, she would have absolutely adored someone who could bring out all the best in Sara.

Sometimes, having Ava made her sadder. Laurel didn't get her happy ending. And at times Sara caught herself thinking that, if Laurel, who wanted it so much, didn't get a chance at it, then why should she? But she knew that was her own guilt talking, so she tried to listen to the rational part of her brain, reminding her how glad Laurel would be that Sara finally felt like happiness was within her grasp.

That was why, when Ava opened the door, Sara gave her a radiant smile and told her how happy she was they were finally home together and helped Ava with her coat and her chair and poured her wine every time Ava got to the bottom of her glass.

They ended up on the couch, Ava sitting a little slumped with her head on the back of it, and Sara sitting sideways so she could look at her, arm around Ava's head so she could gently stroke her hair and cheek every once in a while as they talked softly and Ava hugged her closer and closer as Sara told her about the Legends latest mission, AKA “the one we did not screw up at all” as Sara had started calling it during her recounter of the events.

“-so the Kobold started pouring the water on the floor and-”

Ava's eyes were shining and full of love as she looked up at her and Sara felt like she could have done this a whole lifetime.

“I love you. Like I'm really, really in love with you.”

“Did the Kobold made you realize that, or?” Ava raised an eyebrow at the abrupt change in topic. “You know what, doesn't matter, I'll just take the win actually. I'm really, really in love with you, too.”

Sara bent down, kissing her lips gently. “Want to go upstairs? I can finish my story and you can finish your wine.”

Ava sighed a little dreamily. “Or, since I've already had two and a half glasses, I could leave my wine here,” she leaned up to kiss Sara again.

“I can leave my story here, too,” Sara said quickly, capturing Ava's lips with a little more purpose this time around.

“I don't know, I was enjoying the story about the Kobold,” she teased.

“I think I can make it worth your while,” Sara whispered, kissing her neck before starting to get up from the couch. She had barely the time to offer her hand to Ava before her phone started ringing from the table. “No-ooh,” her voice sounded almost whiny but she could not bring herself to care. The night had been perfect and she wanted for it to continue being perfect with no interruptions. “We'll just- let's leave it. Someone else can deal with whatever that is.”

Ava looked at her skeptically as the phone kept ringing.

“You know there's just one caller who can avoid voicemail, babe,” Ava reminded her. “And if Gideon is calling...”

“...I know,” Sara sighed. “I know, I have to take it. But I don't have to like it,” she rolled her eyes, but walked around the couch and got to the phone. “I'll just get Gideon to call Ray and Nora to deal with whatever this is, their honeymoon period is over, time they got their hands dirty like that rest of us. Yes, Gideon?”

“ _Captain, it would appear the little stowaway is back. Although, she isn't so little anymore_.”

“We're on our way.”

“Well, that was a quick turnaround. What would she possibly say that-”

“It's Laurel. She's on the ship again.”

“I'll grab my time courier,” Ava got up with no hesitation. “Did Gideon say if she was the two year old, the six year old or the ten year old version?”

Sara shook her head. “We'll find out soon.”

“Well, let's hope it's not the Terrible Three time just yet.”

As it turned out, there was something even worse than the “terrible three”.

They searched the bridge and office before quickly heading to the only other room they could think their daughter would possibly want to go without their consent. The fabricator. They were just about to round the corner when Sara grabbed Ava's elbow to stop her. She pushed a finger to her lips and signed for her to listen.

“What about a unicorn, Gideon? Could you fabricate a unicorn?”

“Would that be a stuffed unicorn or perhaps a shirt with a printed unicorn, or?”

“No, no, like a real life unicorn. The real deal. I think that would be a cool gift.”

Ava's mind immediately presented her with the image of Gary and his lost nipple turned demonic nipple. Her daughter would never, ever, deal with a real unicorn, thank you very much. She stepped into the room and Sara promptly followed.

“Who are you even gifting a unicorn to?” Ava asked, arms crossed on her chest.

“Moms! Hi. What are you doing here? I thought you were having dinner with the Palmers,” she plastered an innocent smile on her face and tried to appear as casual as she could. “Uh, you look... different?” Laurel frowned.

“Ow, look at her Aves, she was just ten two weeks ago and now she's a teenager!” Sara cooed.

“What?” Laurel looked at her like she went insane.

“The time courier you used, honey, it's broken. It only travels to 2019,” Ava explained. “I honestly don't know why we didn't get rid of it after the first time you came to us. You were two. Two! Anything could have happened to you! Future us are irresponsible and careless and I'm frankly concerned for your safety.”

Laurel's eyebrows shot up. “Oh, you don't know. Of course you don't, I'm not born yet. Wait. So this is 2019?”

“Yep. We've only met you three times, we're not even married yet,” Sara told her. “So, how old are you now? Gosh you're growing up fast! They do say kids do that but I gotta say, didn't expect it to actually be _this_ fast.”

“Stop making Mom Jokes, Sara, you're confusing her.”

“Aw, but why, she's finally old enough that we can explain what is happening.”

“I think what would be appropriate, would be for _her_ to explain to _us_ what is happening, since she stole a time courier and came to the ship behind our backs to fabricate a dangerous, ferocious magical creature and gift it to someone,” Ava countered.

“True, I'm sure we bring her on the ship often enough, so if she went behind our backs something truly ominous is going on,” Sara hummed, looking back at her daughter.

“No, nothing ominous is going on! And since when are unicorn ferocious, I just wanted a small, cuddly, rainbow coloured-”

“Unicorns can be very dangerous, honey,” Ava explained. “A dear friend of ours has lost a n-, ugh I can't believe I'm telling this story. A n- a nipple, he's lost a nipple. There! I've said it.”

“Oh good Lord,” Laurel muttered.

“And I will not let anything maim or harm my kid, so no unicorns and that's final,” Ava concluded her speech.

“Okay baby, take a breath. Let's start from the beginning. Why are you trying to get Gideon to create life out of nothing?”

“Which, if I may interject Captain, I absolutely cannot do,” the AI informed them.

Laurel sighed and her shoulders slumped. “Fine, I guess since you caught me we'll have to talk about this. And if I do it now, with you, I won't have to do it with my present's you which would be possibly even worse.”

Sara shrugged, accepting the motivation and gesturing for them to sit down at the nearby table so they could have a proper conversation.

“I just need a present for a friend's birthday. And it has to be perfect. It has to be big enough, but also nothing excessive, and-”

“And your first thought was a real life unicorn?!” Sara was baffled.

“- _and_ ,” Laurel continued, “it has to be personal but not too personal, and sweet and cute but not creepy. It has to say it's cool that we're friends but possibly also you're the awesomest person I've ever met. But also, it can't be too flaunting.”

There was a moment of silence while Ava and Sara let that description sink in. Then Sara leaned to Ava without taking her eyes off of Laurel and whispered to her:

“I think our kid has a crush on her friend.”

“Ugh, this is why I didn't want to talk to you guys about this present! I knew you'd say that, and then we'd have to talk about _feelings_ and all that gross stuff and I just can't take it,” Laurel sighed and hid her face in her hands.

“Aw, you ave _feelings_ about him?” Sara was way too enchanted with the idea for Ava's likings.

Ava, on the other hand, was having mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it was so beautiful to see their daughter, whom they'd just met as a kid a few weeks back, grown up enough to start having crushes. On the other, she would have very much liked to strangle this boy she didn't even know with her bare hands and that desire raised some concern in herself.

“So what are you going to do about this crush?” Sara asked, leaning more on the table.

“What do you mean what am I going to do?” Laurel scoffed. “Nothing, I'll cry about it for a while like a normal person, move on, die alone. A three step plan any sixteen years old with a crush follows diligently and that I do not intend to steer away from.”

Sara chuckled at that, while Ava whispered a quiet “Oh, honey,” taking Laurel's hand in hers.

“Ah, you get this from me,” Sara said, sighing. “Back in my day I used to be a bit of a flirt, you know? It was easy and harmless. But then this girl came along, this girl who drove me insane but that was in my life for better or for worse, this girl I had this massive crush on. And even after I started thinking maybe she liked me back, it took me _weeks_ to actually ask her out. And after that it took me weeks to ask her to be my girlfriend and then I _immediately_ screwed it all up – and I do mean immediately.”

Laurel chuckled. “Really? So it's okay if it takes me a while to admit it? Or if I never do and we just stay friends?”

“Of course it is,” Ava told her softly, hand squeezing Laurel's.

“What happened with that girl? Did it end after that?”

“No, she eventually forgave my lack of judgment and, even though it wasn't easy, I put in the work and I won her back. And my beautiful daughter from the future actually informed me a while back I'm gonna marry her, so that's pretty neat I would say,” Sara smirked.

“Aw, you had a crush on mom? How embarrassing.”

“We're married!”

“Still,” Laurel shrugged. “Mom, what do you think I should do?”

Ava hummed. On one hand, she wanted to tell her daughter that this boy – who, again, she didn't know – wasn't good enough for her and she could do so much better and she should focus on school for the time being. On the other hand, her daughter was looking up at her with eyes filled with hope and vulnerability.

“Tell us about your friend. How did you meet?”

“Well, we started talking online. We have a lot in common, so we started to chat a few months ago. And then we happened to be close to her city so you let me squeeze a quick visit in, just for an afternoon tea. And then she visited D.C. a couple of times and since it's her birthday next week you're letting me visit again. And I want to get her something cool and nice, but I don't want to scare her off. She's special.”

Ava's heart was melting, despite her head still telling her nobody in the world was good enough for their daughter.

“So, you live far away. You should get her something that she would see often and makes her think of you. Like, a keychain,” Ava suggested.

“That...” Laurel thought it through. “That's actually perfect. Thank you mom, I knew you'd know what to do, it's cool that I can always come to you guys for anything,” she hugged Ava quickly before getting up and walking to the fabricator again, starting to whisper instructions to Gideon.

“Hey, I gave you a grand speech about your mothers undying, epic love!” Sara argued. “Did that mean nothing?”

Laurel just rolled her eyes at her, but Sara could see her smile a little to herself. It made her smile in return.

Sara felt Ava grab her hand under the table, intertwining their fingers. They smiled at each other before going back to watching Laurel talk to Gideon near the fabricator.

“I wish I could be there, I could meet this crush of hers, give a threatening speech or something. I wish I could protect her from everything bad in the world.”

“You'll have the chance,” Sara told her softly. “In twenty years or so. I mean, not to give the shovel talk. That's mine, I call dibs on terrifying any possible suitors.”

Ava cracked a smile, then turned to Laurel as she walked back to them to show them the keychain she'd made. It was roughly one inch in diameter, dark purple with a yellow lighting bolt in the middle.

“I think she'll like it, or I hope at least.”

They didn't understand what the gift meant, but Laurel's eyes were shining with happiness, so they nodded in agreement and smiled at her. She thanked them and was about to open a portal when Ava got up to give her a quick hug. Sara did the same.

“Don't tell your mom I said this but, if you happen to hold onto that broken courier, maybe use it to visit us from time to time, just in case you need us,” she whispered hoping Ava wouldn't hear.

“Thank you, mama,” Laurel said, hugging back even more for a moment, then letting go.

“Here, let me help you back home, since your time courier's broken,” Ava offered, opening up a portal for her. “And if you tell us about this crush we promise we won't fuss over it. After all, we've had twenty years to digest the news,” she smiled at her kid. “Just, whenever you're ready we're there for you, honey.”

“Thanks, mom. You two are the best. I'll see you guys soon,” she smiled, waved, then got through the portal.

Ava sighed. Twenty years. She could get over her baby girl dating someone in twenty years, right? Eventually, she would just have to accept it.

“Heard that, babe? We're the best,” Sara gloated, bumping her hips into Ava's.

Ava looked at her, fascinated with how cool Sara seemed to be with them having a future together, a daughter, a whole life. It was a gorgeous look, if she was honest.

She opened a portal to her apartment, then made no move to actually cross it and instead circled Sara's shoulders with her arms, kissing her on the nose, then on the lips.

“So you had a crush on me, uh? Salacious. Scandalous!”

Sara had to chuckle out loud at that.

“Ava Sharpe, when have I ever _not_ had a crush on you, uh?” Sara's hands landed on her hips to pull her closer.

She chuckled, bending her head to kiss Sara again in a slower fashion.

“I had a crush on you the moment we met and you had that pantsuit on and your gun pointed at my face,” Sara continued, giving Ava a kiss to underline her statement. “I had a crush on you when you wore that amazing Viking outfit,” another kiss. “When you wore that blue dress on our first date,” with the third kiss, Sara started walking Ava backwards towards the portal Ava opened for them. “I have a crush on you right now. In fact, if you ask our daughter from the future, she'll probably tell you I will have a crush on you twenty years from now.”

Ava chuckled, closing the portal behind them.

“I love you, you dork. And I had a crush on you, too.”

“And?” Sara pressed, still kissing her between sentences.

“And I still do now.”

“And?!”

“And I probably still will twenty years from now.”

“That's all I ask,” Sara smirked, pushing Ava backwards towards their bed.

 


	5. The coffee date

What was currently happening on the Waverider was not a common occurrence. In fact, it was a very, very rare predicament they were finding themselves in and it was apparent almost immediately that something wasn't quite right.

As they walked into the dining room, the sight made them stop dead in their tracks.

While Nate and Ray were setting the table – with legitimate cutlery, plates, glasses even! – Charlie and Zari were bussing food from the food fabricator, everything from pasta to samosa. They were working in tandem, all of them, to make sure they had everything set for the upcoming meal that had preventively invited Sara and Ava to as to make sure they would attend it.

Even Mick and John, while not actively helping with setting up the place, were trying to not get in the way of things, without a single protest for all the fuss taking place around them.

Ava and Sara stopped on the doorway, watching the scene taking place in front of them for a few moments, how the team was working together without shouting at each other or barking orders nobody would follow through. Ava crossed her arms over her chest and frowned.

“Something's up with the kids,” Sara said, narrowing her eyes.

“Yes, something is definitely amiss.”

They stepped into the room and, immediately, their teammates slowed down, finishing up the tasks at hand before stopping in front of them.

Sara walked around them, carefully observing the set table for a long moment, then eyeing Mick and John being uncharacteristically quiet, then the four adults standing in front of her with mischief written in their eyes.

“What is this?” Sara asked, suspicious evident in her voice.

“What do you mean, can't we just do something nice for the team from time to time?” Nate gave her a dazzling smile.

Ava narrowed her eyes at him as he handed her a glass of wine.

“You _are_ the team,” she pointed out.

“Yes. Treat yourself and all that,” Zari smiled innocently.

“Okay,” Sara looked down at her own glass, promptly provided by Ray. “So what so you want? If it requires money, it's a solid no from both of us,” she looked at Ava, who nodded without hesitating, confirming Sara's statement.

“No, we don't want anything,” Ray smiled charmingly, “we just wanted to show you how much we care about you two as our fearless leaders-”

“We need a second bathroom,” Charlie interrupted him.

“We really, really need it,” Zari stepped in. “There is sometimes up to ten people sleeping and showering on this ship, if you count Ava and Nora. And just because Mona has been preferring the wild life to the Waverider lately doesn't mean-”

“That's it?” Sara interjected. “One more bathroom?”

“Yes. John and Ray have already even agreed to be the ones to share with Mick! And Nate, too, when he's here. You, me and Charlie can take the other, and Mona too of course,” Zari explained. “It would make things quicker and easier and honestly help with morale.”

“I'm sorry guys, but renovating time ships costs and we're hella broke,” Sara reminded them. “Plus, where would you even build it?”

“The ship is huge!” Nate countered. “There's a secret room with future Flash's videos, we can find somewhere to put a second bathroom in.”

“Still, sounds expensive.”

“Well, if Nate finds a suitable room and Zari works on the blueprints,” Ava suggested, “I could help Ray build it. We'd only need materials, Gideon can help with that, right?”

“Surely, Director,” came the AI's answer.

“Yes! Me and Mick will help too,” Charlie offered. “Right, big guy?”

Mick grunted, but nodded, looking at Ava and giving her a small, barely-there, smile.

“Okay, have fun with it! As long as you don't break the ship, I'm okay with you redecorating,” Sara shrugged, sipping her wine and sitting down at the table. “Can we eat now?”

They all quickly gathered around the table and started putting food on their plates, when a noise distracted them. A portal opened and a young woman stepped into the ship, prompting every armed legend to immediately aim towards her.

Ava jumped up, standing between her and the table. “Woah, woah, stand down. Stand down!”

Sara got up from her chair at the same time, addressing the girl instead of the team. “What are you doing here?”

“I need your help, moms. It's an emergency,” Laurel explained, barely sparing a glance to the other people in the room still looking at her.

“Moms?!” Nate asked in a hushed, baffled whisper.

“Oh, yeah, apparently they have a future daughter,” Zari explained. “She's been by a few times.”

“What is the emergency? Are you hurt?” Ava quickly scanned her, hands lightly holding her shoulders.

“Not that kind of emergency. More like an... emotional emergency?” Laurel gave them her best innocent smile, but they saw right through it.

“Go back a second, they have a _future daughter_?” Ray was halfway between baffled and ecstatic. “That is so cute!”

“Okay, so we were supposed to do something today. Something really, really important to me that I've been planning for a long time and that we've already rescheduled three times, and I can't cancel again. And, like, two minutes before we were supposed to leave, there was some problem with the universe or something and you had to go fight the random bad guy with all the Legends, Team Arrow, Team Flash and the Super-Friends.”

“That tracks,” Nate nodded. “That happens like once or twice a year.”

“So you need us to attend this thing you've planned?” Ava asked, trying to tune out the rest of the Legends being... well, the Legends.

“Yeah. It's just going to be an hour, two tops. You can come up with an excuse and make an early exit but I at least need you to be there. We said absolutely no canceling again and I can't be the one to break that promise.”

“Okay,” Sara tried to follow her reasoning. “So where and when do we need to be?”

“2051. Central City. I can put in the coordinates for you if you want me to.”

“That's vague,” Ava murmured, but let Laurel set the time courier for her. She had seen those coordinates before. “And what are we going to be doing in Jitters in 2051 Central City, exactly?” Ava raised an eyebrow at her daughter.

“Well,” she plastered her best smile on her face, “you'll meet my girlfriend and her parents. Finally. After we've tried to set it up for six months and have been dating for almost two years.”

Sara's eyebrows shot up and her eyes sparkled with mirth now that she knew this wasn't some sort of museum guided tour that had to be booked months in advance – which, since Laurel acted like Ava so much, wouldn't have been that surprising to be time-displaced on purpose to do.

Ava, on the other hand, was feeling that unpleasant feeling in the pit of her stomach again. The one that made her want to tell Laurel maybe it was a sign they kept having to cancel and to just dump her because nobody would ever be good enough for her daughter. Her baby girl whom only a few weeks ago she had held in her arms, a small two years old with eyes bluer than the sky and blabbering on as Ava tried to get her ready to go to bed. Ava wasn't sure she would ever think anyone was good enough for her.

“Please?” Laurel tried, still smiling rather unconvincingly.

“Sure, we'll do it,” Sara immediately answered. “I've been working on this shovel talk ever since you got that crush the other week-”

“That was two years ago for me. And no shovel talk! Please, just be normal, please? I just need you guys to introduce yourselves and you were the one who kept asking to meet her anyway, so play nice!” Laurel instructed. “I'll go get her and meet you there in ten minutes,” she sighed, looking at her mothers, trying to discern if she was really actually going to go through with this.

Ava and Sara nodded dutifully, opening up the portal. That seemed to help Laurel make her mind, because she turned and walked through it waiting for them.

“Yeah, asking to meet her so we could give her the shovel talk,” Sara whispered as soon as Laurel was on the other side of the portal.

“We'll be right back guys,” Ava informed the legends. “Thanks for the attempt at a nice dinner,” she added, smiling at them before walking off.

“Yeah, thanks guys,” Sara told them, “even if it was an attempt to buy us off it was still a nice thought.”

Laurel gave them strict instruction to just be at Jitters, she would get her girlfriend and come back as quickly as she could, and in the meantime they could get themselves a cup of coffee or some tea, as long as they didn't pry into the future so much. Ava cooed at her trying to instruct them on how to be time travellers and patted her on the cheek in a motherly manner. Laurel begged her never to do it again and then walked off as they walked inside the coffee shop.

“Sweet Jesus, a cup of coffee is _fifteen dollars_ ,” Ava whispered.

“Future economy is fucked up, did we even bring some cash-” Sara was cut off as she stepped aside quickly and almost bumped into someone turning away from the bar. “Oh, sorry.”

“Sara?”

“Barry. And Iris! Uh, hi! Right, you love this place,” Sara quietly reminded herself. Then she noticed that they both looked just like what she remembered. _Exactly_ like she remembered them. Almost... suspiciously like she remembered them.

“It's nice to see you here,” Barry smiled but then seemed to have a similar thought to Sara's because his eyes narrowed a little. “You look young. Do you not age, is it because of the Lazarus pit?”

“You look young too, is it the speed force?”

They looked at each other awkwardly for a moment, before Iris cleared her voice.

“Hi,” she said to Ava. “I'm Iris West-Allen.”

“Ava Sharpe, it's very nice to meet you, Mrs West-Allen, I'm a fan. Your blog is just amazing, if I may.”

Iris seemed please and smiled, asking Ava to just call her Iris, while Sara elbowed Ava in a not-so-subtle way.

“I mean,” Ava cleared her voice. “I _used_ to love it. When you were still writing it. Like, uhm, twenty years ago?”

Iris looked puzzled for a moment, then faked a smile. “Right. Right, I don't do that anymore.”

“Wait,” Sara narrowed her eyes again. “If future us are off fighting some universe-threatening villain with Team Flash, how are you two here?”

“Uh? What- what are you-” Barry tried to divert.

Iris just rolled her eyes, knowing the jig was up. “We're from 2019.”

“Oh, thank God,” Ava whispered. “Us too!”

“Really?!”

“Yes. Yes, and now I can say: I adore your blog, read it every time I get an alert, pause whatever I'm doing and get into it.”

“And she does mean whatever she's doing,” Sara raised an eyebrow. “Even,” she looked around, then lowered her voice, “work meetings.”

Ava swatted her arm. The line moved up and she paid for their coffees, while Iris thanked her and placed the order a moment later.

“Wait a second, did you say Ava Sharpe? That Ava? Time Bureau Director and badass extraordinaire?” Barry asked, smiling and nudging Iris a little. “Honey, she's Wally's Ava!”

Uh. Not what she had expected him to say.

“Wally, my brother,” Iris explained, “he told us so much about you! You helped track the Negative Tachions in our daughter's blood, you saved her life.”

“You daughter?” Sara interjected.

“Our future daughter. Born around 2023, she's eighteen now. She's actually why we're here,” Barry explained as they moved to a nearby table with their coffees.

“Can I take a wild guess,” Sara sighed a little, “and say that you were supposed to meet your daughter's girlfriend's parents but you had an emergency and your daughter didn't want to cancel so she asked 2019 you to come here instead?”

Barry frowned. “Uh. Yes, how did you-”

“Moms,” Laurel's voice cut through Barry's sentence as she approached the tables as soon as she spotted them. Then she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw who her parents were talking to. She swallowed, then extended her hand towards Iris. “Mrs West-Allen, Mr West-Allen, it's really nice to finally meet you.”

“You must be Laurel,” Barry smiled, shaking her hand after Iris did the same. “Nice grip,” it was such a dad thing to say, Sara saw the girl standing next to her daughter actually grimace at the comment. “Wait, moms?” He turned to Ava and Sara, then back to the girl standing next to the table. “Wait, Nora said your name was Laurel, as in-” he looked at Sara again.

“Nora?” Sara asked.

The girl standing next to Laurel stepped forward. “Hi. Nora West-Allen, it is so nice to finally get to meet you,” she shook Ava's hand, then Sara's.

“After your mom?” Sara asked tentatively. “I guess it's what we in the dead-relatives club do,” she tried to joke but it came out as just a statement without the sarcasm she meant to put into it.

“We try to honour them so it doesn't hurt as much to remember them,” Barry confirmed.

They all stayed silent for a few more moments, as Ava's hand rubbed Sara's shoulder comfortingly and Iris took Barry's hand in her own.

Laurel cleared her voice, grabbing the first free chair she saw at a nearby table, gesturing for Nora to seat as she proceeded to find a second one for herself. This resulted in them awkwardly sharing the table's shorter side meant for just one person.

Laurel found herself next to Ava, while Nora sat next to Iris, both of whom immediately noticed the girls clutching each other's hands below the table. They exchanged a look that said the “aww” they felt it wouldn't be appropriate to say out loud.

“So,” Laurel started, dread clear in her stance. “I take it you guys know each other?”

“Yes, we do. We go way back,” Sara hid her smirk behind her coffee cup. “Barry was just telling me how young I look, like I haven't aged a day in two decades.”

“Oh, yes,” Barry immediately caught on. “Sara was just telling us how we look exactly like we did the day we got married, apparently the marital life suites us so well it's like we stopped ageing!”

Nora covered her eyes with one hand and Laurel looked up at the ceiling like she wished something would come smashing right through it.

“So, Ava,” Iris tried to get them back to the whole meeting-the-in-laws stuff, “Wally told us some of the badass things you've done, but we don't really know anything else about you.”

“Yeah, Sara didn't even tell us you were dating! Although I guess you weren't the last time we saw each other,” he seemed to recall something.

“Yes, it's been so long, we saw each other at your wedding and now you have a teenage daughter,” Sara nodded.

“Time just flies,” Ava whispered, making the other three parents snort and then trying to cover it up. She turned to glance at Laurel giving her a disbelieving look, when something sticking out of Nora's jacket pocket caught her attention. “Oh my God. The keychain.”

“What?” Nora frowned, following her eyeline.

“Mom,” Laurel whispered to her warningly.

“Oh, this,” she took her keys out of her jacket, and the purple pendant with the yellow lighting bolt came into view for the rest of them.

“Aw, you told her you had a crush on her!” Sara smiled knowingly. “Aves, she actually followed my advice, see? I'm full of wisdom.”

“No, no you're not. We're both fools: the purple and yellow pattern, the lighting bolt... and she is the Flash's daughter so she could have similar powers. Sara, I think Laurel is dating XS.”

“What?!” Nora's voice came out in a high pitched voice. “No, that's ridiculous, I'm just an eighteen years old, how could I be-”

“You're the Flash's daughter?” Laurel frowned. Then turned to Barry. “Wait, if you're- if you're fighting a universe-threatening villain with my moms how can you be here?”

“How do you know that he's fighting-” Nora started asking, only to stop in her tracks.

“Okay, let's go over what happened,” Iris suggested. “Nora didn't tell Laurel her parents have secret identities, Laurel didn't tell Nora her parents have secret identities, they tried to have us meet but we kept cancelling because of the usual emergencies and eventually they came to us back in 2019 to bring us to the future, separately, without telling each other that present us were fighting. So, since future us are off together kicking ass, we immediately realized the other couple had to be from another time.”

Laurel frowned, turning to Nora again. “So your dad _is_ the Flash.”

“How did you-”

“I stole my mom's broke time courier to go back to 2019. You?”

“If I run fast enough I can time travel. And, sometimes, I run so fast I can turn back time a little. And how did you even know I'm XS, my parents don't even know yet, Laurel's the only one I've told,” she asked Ava.

“Oh, honey, it's cute you think you can sneak behind our backs, but if you've been running around in a superhero costume, we've known,” Iris smiled at her, patting her hand.

“Yes, Aves, how do you know who XS is?” Sara raised an eyebrow at her.

“The blog,” she said like it explained everything. “Iris has mentioned her in a few articles a while back, then she was kinda erased from existence.”

“Yes, this Nora doesn't have those memories,” Barry confirmed, “but we do. She was older, when we let her fight alongside us. This Nora is younger, we just met her a few times in the past few weeks.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Ava nodded.

“Does it?!” Laurel frowned.

“Yes. At the Time Bureau we have archives with-”

“You work at the Time Bureau?” Nora asked excitedly. “They're awesome! I've been trying to get uncle Wally to introduce me to the director when I visited him in the past, because she's awesome. And I hope she'll help explain time travel, it's been confusing.”

“Well, I could have explained time travel if you told me you could do that,” Laurel smiles proudly, “I've been doing it since I was two.”

“Yes, with a time courier you _stole_ from us,” Ava reminded her. “We can all help out, Nora,” she added. “Your dad and Laurel's mama broke time so many times they can absolutely explain to you what _not_ to do when time travelling.”

“Once! We broke time once,” Sara protested. “And so did Barry. Just, you mess up _one time_ and you future wife never lets you forget it,” she sighed, trying to hide her smile.

“So wait, your moms are...”

“Yeah, Captain of the Waverider and Director of the Time Bureau,” Laurel explained.

Nora's eyes sparkled up immediately. “You're Director Sharpe. And you're the White Canary?”

They nodded and smiled and kept talking about everything Laurel and Nora weren't able to talk about before until they lost track of time. That coffee date turned out to be quite interesting, after all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd be happy to know what you thought if you'd like to let me know <3


	6. The home office

Ava liked her life. She liked her job and her house and her neighbourhood. She liked folders and labels and archives, she liked for everything to be where it was meant to, where it was easy to be found. She would often catch herself particularly satisfied by a diligent report or a symmetric disposition of files and she would wonder if it was truly the person she was. There was a part of her – small, and gradually shrinking – that kept wondering if it wasn't just because she was programmed to be this way.

Even as she had these thoughts she moved her hand to straighten a block of post-its so they were parallel to the edge of her desk.

She traced the edge of the picture frame behind those yellow post-its and softened at the sight of Sara's gorgeous smile. The picture of them goofing around was there to remind her that she was more than the things she was programmed to be. That she had shed her programming long ago.

“Hey. Ready to head home?”

Sara, the live version of her, smiled softly, leaning on the doorframe as she watched Ava as she looked at that picture of them.

“Yeah. It's early, do you feel like walking?”

Sara's eyes lit up and she nodded, pushing away from the doorway to get closer to Ava's desk. As much as she enjoyed instant transportation via time courier, walking in the mild summer weather of D.C. with her girlfriend was a sweet offer that Sara was always ready to accept.

As soon as Ava was ready to head out Sara took her hand, leading Ava to the elevator, impatient to be outside. Ava had a hard time keeping her smile inward. These joyful, carefree moments more than made up for the bad stuff they had to go through, she was well aware of that.

It was soothing, centring, walking hand in hand down a path they knew so well they could probably go through it with their eyes closed.

They even stopped for groceries on the way, like they weren't time travellers with an AI from the end of times capable of fabricating literally any food in the world for them. And once they got home, after putting everything away, as Sara was trying to decide what she wanted for dinner Ava went through the mail. She was halfway through her options when she suddenly fell silent. It took Ava a few seconds to notice and she looked up as soon as she did. Sara was looking at her with a barely contained smile.

“What?”

She shrugged.

“Wha-at?” Ava sing-sang.

“I'm not saying now or even tomorrow or even in twenty years. But, when we're like eighty, if you wanted this to be our life? To retire somewhere in the suburbs to go through mail and recycle until we die? I would be okay with it.”

Ava used one of the spam letters to swat her arm. “Shush. Decide what I have to cook, dork.”

Sara chuckled and went back to her list, but after a few moments a noise coming from upstairs distracted them. They frowned, Ava put down the mail and she headed upstairs followed quickly by Sara, ready to take a look at what was going on up there.

The first thing both of them noticed was the door to the office slightly ajar. Ava always kept it closed. Maybe that was a clone thing, too. They exchanged a quick look, then walked to the door side by side.

Sara cracked open the door slowly, peeking inside.

The room was silent and exactly the way Ava had left it the day before, when she used the desk to work on a report she had to file before going to bed. Everything was where it was supposed to be. With one very, very noticeable exception.

It was the first time seeing Laurel was painful, the sight was simply heart-wrenching. They finally understood why some people say having a kid is like having a piece of your heart walk outside your own body.

Laurel was sitting on the ground with her back to the wall, her knees up close to her chest and her arms around her legs. She looked so small, like she was six again, but they could see she was all grown up already. Her cheeks were wet and her eyes red and both of them would have done anything, everything, to take away the pain they could see pooling in their daughter's eyes.

They walked in the room and sat down on the floor, each one of them on either side of Laurel, without saying anything at first.

“I'm sorry,” she murmured. “I grabbed the first watch I saw, I had to be away from the Waverider for a while. I walked in here and my bedroom was still your home office so I realized this was probably 2019.”

Sara touched her shoulder gently and Laurel almost immediately turned to her and melted into her arms. Her back was shaking slightly and it was clear she was crying again.

“What's wrong, honey?” Ava asked after a few silent moments, trying not to let the sight of her daughter crying make her cry as well.

Laurel turned in Sara's arms, so that she could look onward, with Sara's arm still around her shoulders in a protective stance.

“Me and Nora got into a fight. I think maybe we're done.”

Sara felt her heart sink in her chest. “Oh, sweetheart. I'm so sorry. I promise it'll get better, okay? I promise you that.”

“You can't know that. It hurts so much, moms. I love her.”

Ava caught Laurel's hand in hers and held onto it tightly, while slowly massaging her back with the other one. “We know, honey.”

Sara kissed the top of her head, scooting closer. They stayed like that, the three of them hugged together, until Laurel's tears subsided again.

“I know this probably is the last thing you'd like to hear right now, sweetheart, but you are so, _so_ young,” Sara whispered. “You have your whole life ahead of you. Nora is your first love, I don't doubt that, but you're both so young.”

Her heart felt so heavy, seeing her daughter so upset was hard, harder than she'd ever thought possible.

“When I was your age I had this dumb crush on this dumb boy and I liked him so much, I thought I'd never like anyone the same. It seems so silly now, thinking about it, because he was actually kind of a douche back then.”

That at least got Laurel to smile a little, before her expression went back to sad.

“And I've lived entire lives after that, I've died and I've been back again, but even if I hadn't, honey, it's so rare that people make it with their high school sweetheart.”

“But she's so wonderful,” Laurel said, looking up at Sara with shining eyes. “She's so perfect and funny and kind, she's so sweet,” her voice cracked a little on the last word and she leaned into Sara's arms again. “And I love her _so_ much, even if I know we never stood a chance I still don't think I can do this without her.”

“Who said you never stood a chance?” Ava asked softly.

“You just said. I mean, we're eighteen. It was going to happen someday.”

“If you go into things with one foot out the door already, there's never a real chance they'll stick,” Ava offered. “Did you give this a real chance? Is this fight worth breaking up over?”

“Well, I don't _want_ it to be.”

“Then don't let it be. If you love her try to fix things. Maybe you'll fight three months from now and end up going your separate ways. Maybe you'll wether through every other fight like this one. But you've gotta try, honey.”

Laurel frowned, torn between what Sara said and what Ava said. She looked up into Ava's eyes, a worried expression in her owns, while her mom was trying to look calm.

“She's my first love,” she whispered it the way Sara said it. Like it explained why maybe it wasn't worth fighting for.

“So?” Ava asked, shrugging a little.

Laurel sniffed a little, then straightened her back to take a better look at Ava, suddenly a lot more interested in what she was trying to tell her.

“First love or not, I can tell you love her deeply. It breaks my heart to see you this hurt and if you think she'll make you happy, maybe fixing things is worth a try.”

She sniffed again, hugging her legs to her chest and staring at the sewing of her jeans, picking at it so she didn't have to look up at her moms.

“You really think we could?”

“Yeah. If that's what you want.”

Laurel turned to Sara, who nodded encouragingly. “Obviously if you don't feel this is the end you should fight for it.”

The kid turned to Ava again, her bright blue eyes staring up into her mom's so similar ones.

“And you don't think it's silly or childish or even naïve that I want things to work out with the first girl I've ever loved?”

Ava smiled at her. “I don't think that at all, I would be a hypocrite if I did. You know, I can't really explain to you _how_ or why, but your mama was my first love.”

Laurel looked down again, thought about it for half a second. “Oh, because of the clone thing,” she reasoned, like it was obvious.

Ava tried to hide her surprise that she already knew.

“Yes. Because of the clone thing. I met her shortly after Rip replaced the previous AVA and we fell in love and I've never loved anybody else. In fact, unless you've been lying to us young lady, I'm pretty sure I'm going to marry her,” she joked, poking Laurel's side and making her giggle.

They all chuckled, and Ava slid closer, until they were huddled together in a family hug.

“You know, your mama's had many lives, many loves. I've only had half a life. And she was my only love. I don't think it really matters, do you? What I think matters is that, when you find that person you know is just perfectly right for you, you hold onto that. You try to make it work. And if it's meant to be, it'll work out. And your life will be better because of it.”

Laurel was silent for a long time, head on Ava's shoulder, hand placed in Sara's.

“Thank you, moms. You guys always know what to say to make everything better.”

Their hearts damn near exploded at that.

Knowing their daughter would always rely on them, would always think the world of them, it was the best feeling in the world.

“What did you kids fight about anyway?” Sara wondered.

Laurel sighed, covering her face with her free hand.

“It's stupid. We can't agree on a college we both like, or even two different colleges in the same city, or at least not so far apart. So that means four years in different parts of the country.”

Ava took a breath, trying to put her thoughts into words, but coming up short. Her lips stayed parted like she was about to protest, but nothing came out.

“Laurel. Your mom lives in D.C. and I live in a timeless void,” Sara scolded. “Just steal one of her watches.”

“Hey!” Ava swatted her arm.

“Or ask Nora to run to you at the end of her work day. Or, you know, alternate between these two options. You don't need to go live together at eighteen. Jesus, talk about u-hauling. You get this from your mom.”

“Sara,” Ava scoffed, reprimanding. “But she _does_ have a point, Laurel. You're luckier than most kids, you can have one of my time couriers, especially if you're moving away from home because we'll want you to visit. And that way you two can pick the colleges you want and still see each other as often as you want to.”

“Really?! You'd let me do that?”

“I mean, you've been using one since you were two,” Ava rolled her eyes. “Might as well give you a properly functioning one. Ask us tonight, we'll remember having this conversation and if we think you're mature enough, than yes. You can have one.”

“Thank you so much!” Laurel threw her arms around Ava's neck. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She hugged Sara as well. “I have to tell Nora,” she got up, drying off her cheeks and looking already a lot more like herself.

Ava pushed a few buttons on her courier and then opened up a portal for her. “We'll see you soon, sweetheart.”

“I'll see you guys in a second,” she smiled broadly, then took off.

Ava and Sara kept staring at the empty room for a while, eventually they slid closer, filling up the gap left between them by Laurel. Ava's arms circled Sara's shoulders as she nestled her head in the crock of Ava's neck. She closed her eyes, breathing in Sara's scent.

“Aves?”

“Mh?”

“I have lived many, many lives.”

“Mh-mh.”

“You're the love of every single one of them.”

Ava smiled, opening her eyes again to look down at the woman in her arms.

“Sara Lance. Are you saying we're meant to be?”

“What I'm saying is,” she leaned back just so she could turn properly to Ava, taking her hands into hers. “When we were in Purgatory, you told me timing doesn't just happen. You have to make a choice. And I'm making it, and I'll keep making it everyday of my life. So if you're ready, I'd like to officially move in.”

Ava's eyes were so soft and her smile was so tentative. Sara's heart melted.

“Really?”

“I just scolded our daughter because she didn't think of using a time courier to make it home every night. I have a time courier. And I want to make it home to you every night. So yeah, really.”

Ava's smile became dashing.

“It would make me really happy.”

“Than that's settled because that's all I want.”

Sara took her face gently into her hands, kissing her softly. They eventually got up from the floor and moved back to trying to decide what they were having for dinner. As they walked out Ava stopped with her hand on the door, looking inside again. The home office was nice and everything, but she couldn't wait to turn it into Laurel's room.

She smiled to herself, closing the door softly and heading for the stairs.

 


	7. The phone call

  
  


Sara moved in on a Tuesday. She first got on the Waverider with a handbag; when the time came to bring her stuff into their new apartment, she had so much stuff, both acquired during trips and that Gideon fabricated for her, that she needed multiple boxes and two suitcases Ava lent her. Most of it were just clothes, pictures, gifts.

Ava diligently freed half her shelves, drawers, closets so that Sara could fill half of everything and so that their home could really be _theirs_.

The dinner was scheduled for the following Saturday. They had invited the Legends – plus Nora and Gary, of course – and were planning on it being just an average night like any other, but at the house instead of in the Waverider. Zari even set up a bluetooth case so Gideon could be present, which led to Ava's regrettable comment: “How very Alexa of you.”

The wine had been opened and the table had been set, everything was ready and Sara was just going back to check the oven had been turned off when she caught a glimpse of Ava intently staring at something on the kitchen counter. She walked until she was able to look over Ava's shoulder to finally see what was catching her attention: her phone, screen black.

“What are you doing?” Sara asked, frowning.

Ava startled a little. “The phone,” she stated like it was supposed to explain everything.

“Yes? Your phone. That you're staring at. It's locked.”

“The phone,” Ava repeated without averting her eyes from the black screen. “It's going to ring. Any second now.”

Sara's eyebrows shot up. “Okay. Like, how do you know this? Do you have information from the future? Or did Nora predict it with her magic? Did Laurel-”

“No. The phone is going to ring and there's going to be an emergency. Because nothing went wrong with you moving in and now nothing's going wrong with the dinner. Too unlikely.”

Sara smiled sweetly, putting an hand on Ava's shoulder. “Okay. Baby, the phone isn't going to ring just because you-”

To her utter annoyance, Sara was interrupted by Ava's phone ringing, Nora's name flashing on the screen. Ava gave her a triumphant look, then took the call.

“Sharpe. Uh. No, white is fine. Wait, that's all? That's why you called, to ask about wine? No, no, just bring whatever really. Okay, then. Yes, see you in a few.” Ava hang up the phone and turned to a very pleased Sara.

“Come on, stop staring at your phone and start opening the wine,” she tugged Ava by the hand and to the other side of the counter, smiling as they kept making the last minute arrangements side by side.

Dinner went smoothly – well, as smoothly as it could with all the Legends under one roof – and some of their friends even helped with some of the cleaning up before they left.

The two of them ended up sitting on the couch, sipping the last of the wine, hugged to one another. It had been a good night, everything they'd hoped it would be. It wasn't until they started lazily exchanging kissed between sipping their wine that Ava's phone went off a second time. She sighed, but fetched it and answered it.

“Sharpe.”

“Mom. Oh thank God you haven't changed your phone number in forever.”

“Laurel?” Ava sobered up immediately, putting her on speaker. “Where are you?”

“Star City, 2019. It's a long story, the gist of it is: Nora and I were on a date and we thought it would be fun to get a glimpse of Team Arrow in action, but we kinda, uh-”

“You are _so_ grounded, kid,” Sara interrupted her, but feeling relieved at the same time she wasn't in some major trouble. “Like, I know you can't see your mom's face but I can and you are in so much trouble.”

“What did you do, Laurel?” Ava shushed Sara.

“We got too close and-” Laurel sighed, “-got made. And we didn't want to use our powers in case it screws with the timeline so we just kinda... let them capture us? Because, being from the future and all,” Laurel said the last sentence louder than the rest, as if to make sure her captors heard that, “we know they're the good guys. Except, they won't believe us. So, you know, we told Mister Queen – oh, yes, he was _very_ unhappy we knew who he was – we told him we have some common friends and you could get them for us if he let us call you. So you know, if you could quickly come get us, or get Nora's parents to, that'd be great.”

The line went silent and Ava sighed deeply.

“Call Iris, the number's in here,” she threw her phone at Sara. “I'll get my time courier,” she got up from the couch. “And I'm grounding our daughter as soon as we save her!”

“She's in college, Ava.”

“Well, then, I'll ground her from the day she's born _until_ she goes to college!”

“Yeah, sounds reasonable.”

After a quick call, the two of them opened a portal and walked into the abandoned warehouse, the coordinates had been sent to Ava's phone after the call, since Laurel forgot to tell them where they were being held.

Laurel and Nora were standing next to each other, tied to the column behind them by a rope that Ava could imagine had been thrown with an arrow. The man himself was standing a few feet beside them, a couple of his associates with him. Ava was the first to step through, marching towards her daughter and finding a bow aimed at her chest.

“Mister Queen. I've just come in through a portal that appeared out of thin air. If I was going to harm you or your team, you would be unconscious right now. Please, lower your weapon and step away from my daughter.”

Sara came in a moment later, walking fast to where Ava was standing, putting herself in front of her without even thinking about it.

“Woah, Ollie, put that thing down!”

“Sara?”

He immediately lowered the bow and Ava went around Sara to get to Laurel, quickly untying both of them.

“Are you crazy? They're kids! You tied up two kids doing nothing and pointed a weapon at them?” Sara scolded him.

“They were following us,” Oliver argued.

“And they're, like, in their twenties,” Rene noted, “we've met villains way younger than them.”

“Are you both okay?” Ava asked as soon as they were free.

“We're _fine_ , mom,” Laurel stressed the word and rolled her eyes a little.

“Mom?” Felicity chuckled at that. “I mean, did you have her at fourteen or are you a supernatural being that doesn't age?”

Both Ava and Sara turned and frowned at her.

“Didn't she- Laurel, didn't you explain-” Sara started, only to be stopped again.

“Laurel?” Oliver asked, turning to look at the kid again.

“We tried! They didn't believe us, we tried to explain we're from the future,” Laurel said, like it was obvious. “And we said they knew our parents. And then they asked us to call one of them and who the _fu_ \- fudge know cellphone numbers by heart in this day and age, so we called the only number I could remember: mom's. She's been grilling it into my skull since I was five so that if I ever got lost I knew who to ask the police to call.”

“Okay, first of all, wow that's neurotic, Aves. Second of all, well done because you might have saved their lives just now,” Sara assessed. “Also, Laurel Lance-Sharpe, is our daughter from the future. And this is Nora West-Allen, you can guess whose future daughter she is. Laurel, this are Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak, very good friends of mine. I don't know who that dude is,” she frowned at Rene.

“Rene Ramirez.”

“We called your parents, by the way,” Ava smiled at Nora. “We reassured them we would deal with this and get you home safely. Here, call them and let them know we've sorted this,” she handed Nora her own phone. “And you, young lady, are grounded,” she told her own daughter.

“Yes, from the day you're born,” Sara nodded along, repeating Ava's words verbatim. “Until the day you go to college.”

“Really, ma'? You, too?”

“Yes. We're a united front. Good parenting,” Sara kept nodding in what was supposed to be a reassuring manner, like she knew what the heck she was actually talking about.

“No more dates in the past. I don't care if you and your girlfriend have superpowers, you do _not_ mess with time!” Ava reminded her. “My own daughter! She gets this from you,” she told Sara, shaking her head in a discouraged manner.

“I mean, does she? Or is it Berry's genes that make Nora drag her into this kind of m- you know what actually, she probably does get it from me, yeah.”

“Stop! Go back a second,” Oliver caught their attention. “You have a _daughter_? From the _future_? With this woman?”

“Yes. Oliver, this is my girlfriend Ava, we live together in D.C.,” she explained. “Ava, this is Oliver Queen. Felicity Smoak. Still don't know who that dude is.”

“Rene Ramirez.”

“Oh my God, you introduced your friends to your daughter before you introduced them to the girlfriend you'll have said daughter with and _I'm_ the one who doesn't know what she's doing with time travel?” Laurel scolded her.

“It's nice to meet you, Mister Queen. Miss Smoak. Mister Ramirez,” Ava shook their hands, smiling at them politely, then turned back to Oliver. “Point a weapon at my daughter again and I will erase you from existence.”

“No, she won't,” Sara reassured him. “She doesn't interfere with time. I do, and I will, if you threaten my daughter again.”

“Your daughter never follows us again and I won't threaten her. Or Barry's daughter,” Oliver promised, then he frowned at the sentence that just escaped him mouth.

“And hey, you're invited to dinner now that I have a house,” Sara announced. “We can pick you up so you won't have to actually travel to D.C., of course, but yeah, next time we're having the Legends over I'll text you,” she gave a quick hug to Felicity and swatted Oliver's arm. “Now if you'll excuse us, we need to get the kids... back to the future.”

Rene was the only one who actually laughed at the joke. Sara was deeply disappointed, to say the least.

  
  


They opened a portal for them so they could go back to 2043. Through the portal, they got a glimpse of their own apartment, of what it would look like twenty-three years in the future. It didn't look that different from their present one.

They collapsed back onto the couch, the glasses, half-empty, sat there waiting for them.

“You know, when I brought little two years old Laurel back, the first time, the house was a mess,” Ava confessed, laughing a little. “There were toys, colouring books and sippy cups scattered everywhere. I guess with a toddler the least of our worries will be tidying up,” she smiled, turning to Sara.

“Yeah, when she was six there were toys and school supplies everywhere, so maybe not just with toddlers,” Sara chuckled. “Maybe she's just bad at picking up after herself. She also gets that from me,” she snorted.

Ava circled her waist with her arms, bringing her closer to herself, Sara's arms slipped around her shoulders.

“How lucky I'm here to pick up after you two, uh?”

“And great job you did, by the looks of it!” Sara teased her.

Ava chuckled. “You saw it tonight. Looked pretty much like it does now, right? It's like, the more things change-”

“-the more they stay the same,” Sara finished softly. “It's not a bad thing, though, right? Things are pretty good.”

“Things are perfect. And I'm- don't take this the wrong way, but I'm kinda glad we got to see a glimpse of what awaits, it put a lot of my fears and anxieties to rest. It doesn't feel spoiled, to me, knowing we'll make it. If anything, it'll make everything smoother and easier and that alone could make us even happier.”

“I agree,” Sara told her. “It doesn't make me want it any less. If anything, it makes me want to get there more. Because we know- I know, there's this great future ahead of us and I can enjoy it, and stop fearing it because of my past.”

Ava smiled softly at her. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

A comfortable silence settled between them, and Sara got up after a few moments, asking Ava to wait there for her just for a minute. When she came back a few minutes later, she seemed a little nervous.

“So, I know I just moved in,” she started. “But we've been basically living together for months, let's be honest. And we're in this for the long haul. We're stronger than ever and we're ready, or at least I know I am.”

Ava smiled. “Well, I am, too, or I wouldn't have asked you to move in.”

Sara shook her head and took a deep breath.

“You told me, timing doesn't just happen. That life is a choice. Well, you're my choice, you'll always be my choice. You were right: timing doesn't just happen, it's up to us. And I don't want to wait anymore, I want the rest of our lives to start as soon as possible, because I want to spend as much of mine as I can with you.”

She dropped on one knee and immediately Ava's smile was gone, a soft “oh sweet Jesus” leaving her lips.

“Ava Sharpe-”

“Yes.”

“-will you make me the happiest woman alive-”

Ava scooted over, her eyes not leaving Sara's, not even looking at the ring inside the box in Sara's hands. She took Sara's face in her hands gently, almost as if she was afraid that Sara would turn into smoke if she touched her too hard.

“-and marry me?” Sara whispered against Ava's lips, just as Ava kissed her so impossibly softly.

“Yes.”

Sara smiled and kissed her back, then she pulled back and took Ava's hand in hers.

“Are you sure? I mean, you're not just proposing-”

“You listened to my speech, yeah? I want to marry you, I want a future with you, I want the dirty dishes, the mail, the scattered toys, I want to fix things that get broken around the house, I want to file taxes and recycle and-”

“Nobody wants that.”

“I want that. If it's with you, then no part of life is boring. I was looking at this all wrong, back then, you know? I was looking for a quick way to get out of it, but I'm not anymore. I'll colour code our mail if it makes you happy, Aves.”

“Please leave our mail to me. And yes, I will marry you. But I deal with the mail, baby, okay? But I love you so, so much.”

Sara wasn't about to argue with that. She slipped the ring on Ava's finger and kissed her again, and again, and again.

They felt the electric excitement of knowing their lives were going to change so much, and at the same time everything important about them was going to stay exactly the same. The future didn't seem so scary anymore; they were ready to start the amazing adventure ahead of them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been so fun to write, I wanted to thank you guys for reading and commenting. Maybe someday I'll write something else set in this universe, if I think of a story or something, but for now this is all. Thank you all so much!


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